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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



AMERICAN 



WAR SONGS AND ODES 




By ALMONT BARNES, LI..B., 

I.ate Captain Battery C, ist N. Y. Lt. Arty., Fiith Corps, 
Ariny ot" the Potomac. 



Frjli'iiullv Iiiscribi-cl L\ the Gi\iiid Annv of the Republic 



A. Barnes, Publisher, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

1892. 



AMERICAN 



WAR. SONGS AND ODES 




/ 



By ALMONT BARNES, LLB., 

Late Captain Battery C, ist N. Y. Lt. Arty., Fifth Corps, 
Army of the Potomac, 



Fraternally Inscribed to the Grand Army of the Republic. 



A. Barnes, Publisher, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

1892. 



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Copyright, September, 1892. 



GIBSON BROS., 
PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS- 
5«WASHlNGTON, D. C. 




SONGS AND ODES. 



LIBERTY 
ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD. 



IFT th}' almighty hand, 

O Liberty divine, 
And let to every land 

Thy torch and knowledge shine ! 
Not unto us alone be most thy good — 
Teach all mankind their one vast brotherhood. 

To kings, and since of old 

Time was, that then was young, 
Have homages and gold 
Been given, and praises sung; 
And evermore the fetters clung to men, 
Which, broken, their own hands helped forge again. 

But, lo, a spirit, stirred 

In multitudinous chords, 
Breathed through one little word 
To snap the steel of swords, 
And rock to ruin castles rapine builds, 
Intrenching wrong, upon a thousand hills. 

That spirit deifies 

Thy boundless soul and form, 
And from thy holy eyes 

Shines into hearts made warm 
To work the best for all, and unto all 
Who hear thy chant, and harken to thy call. 

So, light us with thy light, 

Now and forevermore, 
Till through all human night 
Men feel its splendor pour. 
On each who waits thy benediction be. 
Genius of Joy, Hope-Mother, Liberty! 
3 




THE AWAKENING. 

HAT does it mean? — a sound of war is heard in a land of 
peace ! 

Out of the mansions of the toAvn, from lives of dreamy 
ease, 

Out of the bank, out of the shop, out of the cot of the 
poor, 

Gathering hastily, marshaled for war, the stern-faced 
legions pour. 

Plume and epaulet, musket and sword, late symbols of 
holiday sport, 

Have meaning Avhile cj'clopean guns keep w-atch from 
deck and fort. 

And voices ring like trumpets, comtnanding left and right 

The warlike ranks that, marching, smell the smoke of the 
coming fight; 

While thrice a hundred thousand men are gathered from 
their homes, 

And pour through field and street to the shrill of fifes and 
shudder of drums. 

What does it mean.? Has a foreign foe invaded our fruit- 
ful shore.? 

Has the lion of England risen and roared another seven 
years' roar.? 

Has the national eagle been pitted to fight the imperial 
bird of France ? 

Or do the hearts of our countrymen writhe on the point 
of the Mexican lance ? 

No — England's lion sleeps on his isle, fringed with the 
foam of the sea ; 

The eagle of France is still polite to the eagle of the free; 

And the Aztec lance is not so long as the blade of Ameri- 
ca's sword, 

While the Aztec fights like a suicide with life each day 
restored : 

But listen — the answer is long enough for history to 
record. 

And yet so short that a man may say the whole in a sin- 
gle word : 



Treason! Treason against the freest rule the world has 
known ! 

A mine is sprung that, laid in hell, might cost the devil 
his throne ! 

Men from the States where statesmen sleep who gave the 
Union life, 

Men from fields where our flag has waved victorious 
through the strife, 

Statesmen nursed at the nation's breast and patriots by 
trade, 

Smite with coward blows the heart whose life-blood for 
them played. 

Soldiers taught at the nation's charge, and fed at her am- 
ple board, 

Turn and plunge to the hilt in the breast of the nation the 
nation's sword ! 

These are they who hung like leeches upon the Govern- 
ment, 

Then left it when, as they vainly thought, its life-blood 
all was spent. 

Left it.? No! — they turn to rend the limbs from the very 
dead ! 

Ho! let the red hot bolts of war fall hissing on each head! 

Shall we compromise and bargain with these; propose, 
and shuffle, and plead.'' 

Shall we deed them half the nation's soil.'' In whose 
name runs the deed.'' 

Shall we give them the bones of Washington, to make it 
a generous trade, 

Reserving the right sometimes to visit the spot where the 
bones are laid.? 

Shall we advertise in the London Times the end of the 
" partnership," 

And the Capitol to sell or rent, cheap for cash or scrip.? 

Ah, ye craven souls who pale at the thought of defensive 
war. 

Is not the promise of all our past enough to battle for.? 

Traitors have taken treasure and life, and shall they fur- 
ther dote ! 

Why, even a murdering Roman guard cast lots for a seam- 
less coat ! 

Never the Union shall sundered be while right is better 
than wrong. 



Never shall Freedom backward turn, that has onward 

toiled so long. 
Never another flag shall float from where the star-flag 

holds 
In triumph yet the hopes of thirtv millions in its folds. 
No manlj heart will ask for a peace which covers a smoul- 
dering strife, 
Or fail to defend, with treasure and life, the nation's honor 

and life. 
No manly soul would lose the wealth of our historic j^ears, 
Or sell, for fear of trials and tears, heroic trials and tears ; 
Sell the glory of peace and war from Seventy-six till now — 
Sell it, for what.? To buy a wreath to crown a traitor's 

brow ? 
Then let us stand for our native land — the Union and her 

right- 
Unfold to the storm the flag whose stars have bathed the 

world in light. 
The hour has come, the men are here, and victory awaits. 
We fight for what our fathers won — the whole United 

States : 
yuly i6, 1861. 







i^ 



IN VIRGINIA. 

N Old Virginia's hills I lie. 

While all around is hushed to rest, 



'huj Lie on the broad earth's generous breast, 
And arched above me is the sky. 



The stars shine dimlj through the dark. 
Like beacons of a far-off land, 
And sailing on, as near the strand, 

The moon rides like a silver bark. 

And if a sound comes through the night 
It seems to journey from afar, 
Beating with wearied wings the air, 

And dying ere it passes quite. 

And all the hills are Avhite with tents ; 
And in the misty vales they stand. 
The shelter of a faithful band 

Whose breasts are Freedom's battlements. 

O storied land, in which the good 
Grow sad at what they look upon ! 
O peaceful night, when earth at dawn 

May wear the crimson blush of blood ! 

In warrior mail we wait the morn 
When Freedom, with majestic mien. 
Shall stand upon these hills of green 

With her proud banner battle-torn. 

And with her fair face to the sun. 
Made glorious with more than light, 
Declare the triumph of the right, 
Here by the grave of Washington. 
Jnne^ 1862. 

7 




TATTOO. 

HE sun has sunk behind the hills, 

The moon sails high and wintry clear; 

Her light falls on the lighted camps 
That shine around me far and near. 

Near like a village lit thej seem; 

Far like the fireflies' fitful gleam. 

Ah, manj' a thousand men around 
Are welcoming the restful night, 

Glad that a day of toil or watch 
Withdraws its labors with its light. 

They but await the bugle call 

That shall release from duty all. 

Hark! far away the sound begins, 
One only, lonely, simple strain ; 

Then fife and drum, and bugle tone 
In tumult answer back again ; 

As when one bird at morn awakes 

A chorus in the woods and brakes. 

And all is still again ; the ranks 
Have answered to the evening call. 

Come, O fair goddess. Rest, and smoothe 
The rough beds of the soldiers all ; 

And Sleep with softest fingers close 

The eyes that wake to watch our foes. 

Bk ALTON Station, Va., Jatiuary, 1864. 



™. -.>a. BEFORE THE BATTLE. 

) T ^^ 'M lying out to-night, love, 

"^A'/SSa Under the moon and stars, 

"^^^JJlThat send a soft and misty light 
'^"^ ' Down by the cloudy bars 

Which float before them, as a veil might move 
Before the face of one serenely bright 
As the Madonna. Armies hushed to sleep 
Lie 'round me, quiet as the placid deep. 

And all is w^ondrous still. 

Above if there be any melody, 

It comes not audibly adown to me, 

Unless, perhaps, that without thought or will 

My inmost sense catches some low refrain, 

And knows not whence it emanates ; 

Yet listens but to hear it once again 

Ooze through heaven's golden gates — 

For it must be of heaven at this hour. 

When the late bee dreams on the drooping flow'r. 

And here below 

Silence and slumber over all things creep ; 

And rest is given by a little peace. 

That leadeth down to sleep 

Through the low vale of tender reveries. 

Peace, for the weary ones who rest for war. 

Twines poppy wreaths 'round many a rugged brow, 

Dreamful of those who us are waiting for 

Beyond the battle shock and cannon sound. 

But I, beloved — how dear to me the hour ! — 

I send my memory roaming after thee, 

While here beneath the stars I count the dow'r 

That love hath brought to me. 

My heart is bathed in calm, 

And full of hopes as are of roses Junes ; 

And over me steal pleasant memories, 

Grateful as shade from great ancestral trees 

In summer afternoons. 

9 



My thoughts are the thanksgiving of a psalm 
In night's great temple, altared by this mound. 
Whate'er of life or death awaits this scene, 
Nothing annuls the glory that hath been. 

I here lie dreamily upon the ground, 

With wordless pray'r touching the edge of sleep, 

Before the morning wakes with gradual sound 

Along the stations that the armies keep. 

The lifted morn may see red-handed war 

Commit its giant murder. If I lie 

Amid the host the grave is waiting for, 

Stabbed 'mid the battle's smoky canopy 

By the sv/ift shot; or should my life, 

Hot and forgetful of all save the strife. 

Be shriveled by the cannon's kiss of flame 

And blown away as nothing; in the name 

Of all in which the best or least may trust, 

I pray that from my unremembered dust 

Fair peace may bloom for country, home, and v/ife. 

Come sleep, come rest — for there is nothing more 

Till day shrinks shuddering nightward from the battle roar 

Petersburg, Va., yuly, 1864. 
10 




THE SOLDIER'S WIFE. 
I. 

OW wearily the days go by, 

How Silence sits a guest at home, 
While she, with listless step and eye, 

Still waits for one who does not come. 
The sunshine streams across the floor, 

A golden, solitary track. 
The bees hum in and out the door. 
The olden clock goes klick-a-klack; 
And baby sitting wonder-eyed, 

Watches the kitten's noiseless play 
Till sleep comes gently, and she lies 
At rest through half the summer day. 

2. 

When twilight cometh, dim and gray, 

She sits anear the open door. 
Before her lies the graveled way 

O'erhung by ancient sycamore ; 
And through the eve she hears the cry 
Of whippoorwills that near the light, 
She sees the star of evening die, 
And all around her broods the night : 
Then, " Bye-lo-baby, baby bye," 
She sings her little one to rest, 
And muses with its rosy face 

Held v/arm and close against her breast. 

3- 
Beside her lowly couch she kneels. 

And clasps her hands before her face — 
Ah, only Christ knows what she feels, 

A lonely supplicant for grace. 
She prays for one who does not come, 

And draws an ansAver from her hopes. 
And then within her silent home. 

While stars slide down night's silvery slopes. 
She nestles close beside her babe, 

And one arm o'er it shielding throws, 
And dreams of joy that day denies. 
Until the rose of morning blows. 
11 




THE LAST WATCH. 

H, comrade old, sit here and hold 
1^ My hand, a little while. 
W Long, long it seems, as if in dreams, 
^ Since last I saw your smile. 
How the years pass ! It is, alas, 

No tent we share; no light 
Of camp fires 'round the guarded ground — 
I have no home to-night. 

" What did you say.? Peninsula ? 

Remember Little Mac? 
We should have beat, with no retreat — 

McDowell was held back ! 
Ah, yes, I know thej^ say not so 

Who never saw a fight. 
What matters all that to recall — 

I have no home to-night. 

" The Weldon Road.? There once we showed 

The color of our eyes. 
There Hayward broke, in blood and smoke 

War-lifted to the skies. 
Brave Blue or Gray, man, anyway, 

The wrong side or the right. 
The shifting years bring each to tears — 

I have no home to-night. 

" The tented plain — oh, once again 
Restore to me that home ! 
The ranks were true, in gray or blue — 

There death need bravely come. 
But here, in peace, to find release, 

This is the bitterest fight. 
Forgetful War, roll back your car 
And take me home to-night! " 
12 



A shuddering gasp, a loosened clasp — 

A comrade passed away ! 
Beneath his head, a tattered shred, 

His shot-torn guidon lay. 
Struggles with peace, must they so cease 

For him who learned to fight 
Through awful daj'S, with soul ahlaze 

For country and for right? 

O brave and true, what do men do 

To you who served so well? 
Shouldered aside, your worth denied. 

Your anguish who can tell ? 
Behind you close your country's woes — 

Before her all is bright; 
But broken ranks win broken thanks, 

Nor tent nor home at night. 
13 





GRANT. 

LONE he rests at Riverside, 
The foremost of defenders, 
^ The patriot warrior doubly tried, 
The hero of surrenders. 
From sleep with kindred sleepers sent, 

'Mid living men's elateness. 
All lonelier is the monument 
Built only of his greatness. 

We celebrate for Ninetj'-two 

Time, with its egg-full zeros, 
Which best we gain the grace to do 

Remembering home-born heroes. 
The ashes of Columbus hide 

Beyond sure ken of sages — 
Not for the brave at Riverside 

Such satire of the ages. 

With steady strength his way was won. 

Through fight, o'er fit surrender, 
Through darkness to the burst of sun 

In storm-dispelling splendor. 
Was it Jehovah gladdened men 

With human hopes' salvation.? 
' Let us have peace ! " becometh, then, 

The rainbow's fit translation. 

He felt the bitter, did the great 

With best of great endeavor; 
Staunch to a friend, so to the State; 

Clean from dishonor ever. 
While fate pressed to his throat its knife. 

And his last suns Avere setting, 
Patient he penned the Union's life. 

And won the world's regretting. 
14 



Lift up, in vision, once agam 

Thy wild face, smeared and bloody, 
Oh, awful War, that psace-lulled men 

May gain a picture ruddy 
And lurid, flamed from thy deep hell, 

As once this chieftain knew it. 
So it but teach, at need and well, 

To justice see and do it. 
15 





NATIONAL HYMN. 

ONG live America! Land of our love, 

Our hearts shall bless thee, wherever w^e rove. 

Billows may bear us afar from thy shore, 

Yet from afar will we love thee the more. 

Broad be thy empire o'er land and o'er sea, 

While true hearts throb with the mem'ry of thee. 

Chorus :— Long live America ! 
Union ! America ! 
Long live America, 
Land of the free ! 



Long live America ! Ever in peace 
May thy proud banner unfold to the breeze ; 
But if a foe scorns, to honor thy right, 
Lift we thy starry flag glorious in fight. 
As stands thy shore to the shock of the sea, 
Stand thy defenders, oh land of the free! 

Long live, America, stainless and whole, 
One while thy rivers shall oceanward roll ; 
One till the sun shines no more from the skies; 
One till the dead at Mount Vernon arise; 
One and united, while true hearts and free 
Pledge life, and fortune, and honor, to thee. 

Long live America ! Hear thou our cry, 
Ruler of nations, whose home is on high. 
Thou wast our forefathers' shield and reward — 
Guide thou our Union, omnipotent Lord ! 
And may our peace song and battle-shout be, 
Long live America, land of the free ! 

Chorus : — Long live America ! 
Union ! America ! 
Long live America, 
Land of the free ! 
16 






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